Rumour: Paper Mario Wii U In Development By Intelligent Systems?

& yet it was the original PlayStation (32 bits) that sold better than the N64 (64 bits), & for a higher price, albeit the price of software between the 2 was the opposite. Not only did N64 have the advantage of raw power, it featured 4 controller ports, introduced a thumbstick & rumble, & it’s “power” could be enhanced a bit further w/ the Expansion Pak. Oh, & N64 had exclusives like, you know, Super Mario 64, Zelda: OoT, Banjo Kazooie… Still, none of that could push N64 sales to the heights that the original PlaySation reached.

& it was PS2 that sold better than GameCube. GCN was more “powerful” & easier to dev for, while PS2 was “weaker” & harder to dev for than the N64. But all Sony had do to was
Add a DVD function,
Besmirch Dreamcast (& watch while SEGA sadly dropped the ball themselves),
Market PS2 (as sexy, cool, & “adult”),
Rely on the already established PlayStation brand,
& beat Nintendo (the only other healthy & relevant brand @ the time), to the market.
Even the original Xbox garnered more sales than GCN, albeit by only a few million.

Wii was the sales leader for quite a while in 7th gen, & even 360 had better sales than PS3 for a while. But eventually Ninendo dropped the ball, Sony dropped PS3’s price, & more devs learned PS3’s architecture.

But it’s now a multiplats game for the twin/PC subculture, & thus power is what matters, that & price. Also, Sony saved face w/ PS3, & that helped PS4’s sales. I’m sure there were quite a few Sony fans who gamed on 360 because they were miffed @ PS3’s price & insane jump in power. Apparently, PS4 wooed them back.

Either way, “power” is subjective & only part of the equation of success. & to me, Wii U has the hardware it needs to host great games. A shame the politics & majority are doing something else somewhere else. That’s why Nintendo needs to strengthen the subculture they seem to have inherited after SEGA & Sony left. Nintendo just needs to buy & partners w/ more studios, & maybe buy a few IPs from SEGA & Capcom. Nintendo basically has a monopoly now, bit they need to fill in some gap & paint a picture for them showing how FPSes & Open Worlds should be done, @ least on Wii U. Oh, huh. Still, AAAs will prevent 3rd parties from making their own inspirations of those games, & I doubt architecture has anything to do w/ it. Either way, 3rd parties have pretty much abandoned the previous subculture, & I for 1 will NOT be persuaded to go all in w/ them, & I hope Nintendo stands their ground & strengthens what the rest have left behind. They could start by hiring someone other than a plumber to keep the pollution @ bay, but still keep the plumber just for fun. Ah, who am I kidding, all their mascots should be fun & viewtiful. Although…

I kinda wish the darkness would be eternal, maybe something more, mm, fatal, like 7 killers. Well, maybe in a mad world or if I’m trapped in a house of the dead, but right now, there are no more heroes for me (except Nintendo & indies). No tombs to raid, just a chick who shoots & gets maimed. No evil residents scary enough to run from; too easy to survive when ammo’s everywhere. No epic fantasies, seems it’ll never be my turn based on the recent games. The hill grows silent but Nintendo is not so alone or in the dark.

Mario might be the face of gaming, but apparently most consumers are apathetic to mascots & colorful characters & games. Mario’s 2D Platformers, 3D Platformers, Kart Racers, RPGs, Sports SIMS…they aren’t @ the top of the majority’s list. Crash Bandicoot, Sly Cooper, Rayman, Earthworm Jim, Spyro, & the genres they represented are no longer in such high favor. Even Banjo, Kazooie, & Conker, as much as fans want them, have fallen from the favor they once had, though I mostly blame that on their absence & the naïvety of new gamers. Now roided out soldiers & even Batman (is Bane under that cowl?) are all the rage.

There is now a stigma attached to colorful, anthropomorphic things, especially for teens & tweens, and anyone insecure w/ their social standing. Or some people just prefer something else. Mario isn’t going to attract everyone anyway, & he certainly didn’t propel the sales of N64 (most “powerful” 5th gen console), GCN (most “powerful” 6th gen console), & Wii U (1st & only 8th gen console) past the competition’s sales: I’d even say Mario was only part of the reason for Wii’s success (motion controls & marketing being the biggest reasons, & then it’s conservative jump in power which eased hardware & dev costs). Just like marketing: it all depends on how people perceive it & how many share in that perspective, whether it’s factual, or based on misnomers or misinformation, the crowd will go where they go. That’s why marketing is important, & sadly why bending the truth or flat out lies (however sweet), & mudslinging are so successful. & both Sony & Microsoft dabble in more than just games & can use their other sectors to manipulate. Consoles are ultimately toys, but Heaven forbid they get marketed that way. Nintendo’s more about wholesome fun & quality products. The others, well, hyperbolically speaking, get down & dirty & sell cheap fixes; again, an exaggeration, but not so far from the truth these days).

The 1st Bayonetta should’ve sold like hotcakes when it was on PS360. Beyond Good & Evil should of sold well, too, especially since it was on GCN, PS2, & Xbox. Shows like Firefly, the Thundercats reboot, & Sym-Bionic Titan should never have been cancelled, @ least so soon. Yet, these critically & viewer acclaimed shows were cancelled. Oops, those shows have nothing much to do w/ computer power, & are worthless. Or, maybe they do have to do w/ power & failed because they weren’t on par w/ Hollywood’s visual standards. Being on the bleeding edge is costly, but luckily, true power lies not in graphics or hardware, but how that power is used. & that goes hand in hand w/ perception, but luckily not every product needs to top the charts to profit. Shareholders be damned!